The Personal Touch

While it's reassuring that Her Majesty's Government has moderated its hostile environment for experts, one should always be careful of taking things too far. The expenses claimant for Wakefield, who was recently found guilty of sexually molesting a teenage boy, was appointed to a panel advising the Government on grooming gangs and contributed to a policy document on child sexual exploitation. Naturally, he was allowed to continue his all-too-expert contributions while under investigation by the police and for some time after his victim had informed the Conservative Party's apparatchiki and had been duly scolded and shrugged off. Although the expenses claimant has been stripped of the blue rosette for the crime of being caught while not residing at Downing Street, he clearly stands steadfast in the Party's basic moral values: having been warned that he faces a prison sentence, he stated that he would resign his seat, and then did not resign. Despite his personal wealth, it remains as yet unclear whether the Government intends to help with his rehabilitation, perhaps by finding him a nice little orphanage to run.